"You did WHAT?"
Ash cringed. "Sorry, Mum… but it was either I went or the planet got wiped out."
"A likely story! Why I-"
He's right. None of the Legendaries apart from Arceus could stop Mewtwo if he fought at full power, and I think Arceus is asleep at the moment.
Delia turned her gaze on Dexter, who reverted to his projector and let it drop to the floor.
Ash slipped his hand in his pouch for a moment, and pulled out the small drawstring bag he'd received from Ho-Oh over a year ago. "Besides, this brought me back. And by the looks of it, it's only been used up a little."
She sighed. "I'm not going to be able to convince you, am I?"
Ash grinned weakly. "Hey, apart from the property damage I'm doing pretty well. Besides, it's not as if death is too terrible a thing, seeing as we do have confirmed proof of an afterlife."
Misty leant over. "What are you doing?"
Ash looked up. "Sorry, my mind was wandering a bit." As his head moved, Misty saw he was holding the Rainbow Wing he'd been given by Ho-Oh. "I was just wondering… did Ho-Oh guess this was going to happen?"
"With you?" Misty chuckled. "Probably a safe bet something would."
"True." Ash twirled the feather, looking deep into the pennants. "This is pretty strange, you know. When I stop and think about it, I mean."
Misty sat down next to him. "Well, sounds like you need to talk about something. So, go ahead."
He gave her a grateful smile. "I mean, just that my life doesn't fall under any definition of normal. Most people, they spend a few years travelling around their home region, getting a few good Pokémon to live with them for the rest of their lives, maybe challenging the Gyms of one area. In my case, though… I just sort of ended up going further, faster."
The Cerulean Gym Leader nodded. "I can see where you're coming from… my sisters didn't travel all that much. In their case, it was partly the effort of running the gym, but it's also that they already had Pokémon inherited from our parents. So they had their life already laid out for them – train at home a bit, do the Gym Leader exam, and then settle down at Cerulean. As the youngest of four – and a lot more ambitious, I might add! – I had more freedom than them. I decided to go on a journey around Kanto after passing my qualification, see how other Gyms operated, and then…" She tailed off.
"Then I blew up your bike and the chance of a peaceful life with it." Ash said.
"Don't be like that." Misty paused. "Though I will admit it is completely accurate."
"Story of my life." Ash said, with a weak grin. "I do sometimes wonder how Sammy and Oscar feel, you know? They dropped out of the challenge after reaching Saffron, for Oscar, and Sammy at Viridian – which was her fifth gym, I think. They're just looking for a complete team of good friends, now."
Ash tailed off, and went back to contemplating the Rainbow Wing.
"I suppose this is a good metaphor."
"For what?" Misty asked, looking at it herself.
"Don't know." Both of them chuckled. "Be a pretty good one, though."
As it moved, the colours of each individual part shimmered through the spectrum. "It's made up of tiny little bits of keratin, you know." Ash broke the silence again. "They're in, sort of, sheets, and only one colour of light can bounce off all the sheets properly. But as you turn it, the thickness you look through changes, and the colours do as well."
"I didn't know that." Misty said.
"Yeah, well, I didn't either until I got curious and asked Dexter."
"Well, there's your metaphor." At Ash's puzzled frown, she elaborated. "You see a rainbow when you look at it. But everyone looks from a different place, so every rainbow is different. Like looking at a group of people." She gave a smile. "Best I can do."
Ash shrugged.
After a moment, his eyes closed. "That's odd." He turned the feather again in his hands. "This still has Aura."
Misty blinked, then closed her own eyes. "Hang on… there we go. Took me a moment to get the Sight on, I'm out of practice. Yes, you're right. How strange."
Ash breathed in deeply, held it for a second, and let it out. At the very tip of the feather, a tiny rose-coloured flame danced for a second.
"Wasn't there some story where Phoenix flames continued to burn after they left the bird?" Misty asked.
"Don't know. Makes sense, though, Ho-Oh is all about regrowth and renewal. The embers keep burning - that sort of thing."
"It's hopeful, to me." Misty said quietly.
"I agree."
"You okay?"
Gary looked around, and saw Brock coming out to him from the labs. "Yeah, sorry, I was woolgathering."
"Not a problem. I wanted to see how Ash was, but he and Misty are having a talk and I didn't want to interrupt them. Those two know each other as well as I do either of them, it'd be rude." The Pewter man gave Gary a look up and down.
"So, you okay?"
Gary nodded. Apparently this wasn't enough for Brock, who sat down next to him. "Come on, no need to put on a brave face. Ash, Misty and I have done this kind of thing often enough we're sort of getting used to it, in a weird way. But if I recall correctly, you had a quiet time of it in the other timeline."
"Y-yeah." Gary stammered. "It's… I… that was so scary. I've never really faced a Pokémon with that kind of power before. I, well, I battled Mewtwo in the Viridian Gym, of course, but I didn't know what I was facing so I was scared. Now that I know the kind of thing Mewtwo's capable of…" he tailed off for a moment. "I was so scared I couldn't bring myself to speak. It's one thing to know how powerful a Legendary is and quite another to see it blowing a castle apart in front of you. And when I saw Ash just… jumping about and playing the hero, it made me scared for him as well and I didn't want him to get hurt and-"
Brock put his hand on Gary's shoulder. "Calm down. It's over, you're safe now."
Gary steadied his breathing, which had begun to run away from him. "I… think I'm okay now. Thanks."
"No problem. Take as long as you want to calm down."
After a few minutes of deep, slow, even breaths, Gary resumed. "I suppose I'd have felt better about it if Umbreon was along, you know? I really got to rely on her once she evolved, more than Blastoise if I'm being honest."
"It happens. I know that I use Crobat a lot, though I do still tend to reach for Steelix first. Suppose it's just the way things are, it's why everyone spends a year or so making sure their team's the right one for them."
Gary chuckled weakly. "Ash could have retired with the perfect Pokémon for him on day one. He and Pikachu have an amazing rapport."
"Actually…" Brock began, "You'd be surprised the stories I could tell of when he came to my gym the first time around."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I don't think he paid attention to type effectiveness at all. He actually tried to fight Onix with Pikachu."
The two talked about Ash's early time on the road for another twenty minutes or so, Brock commenting on all the silly things Ash had done – from the hydroelectric power plant incident, to getting kicked unceremoniously out of Celadon Gym for being a loudmouth.
As the lights went out in the Lab, Gary realized the time with a start.
"Wow, it's already midnight." He looked at Brock again, and his face softened. "Thanks. For taking my mind off it."
"Not a problem, Gary. I just want everyone to feel better." Brock grinned wryly. "Must be my time looking after my younger siblings."
"You are the only one of Ash's friends who has them – well, apart from May, and her brother's only a few years younger."
Silence fell, but this time it was more contemplative. Gary pushed himself onto his feet, and walked back to – presumably – his room, without saying anything else.
Brock looked over at Ash and Misty for a few more minutes, before heading in himself.
Pikachu lay back on the grass on a low rise, staring up at the heavens.
Without turning, he casually said, "I've seen them different, you know."
Meowth phased back into visibility. "How'd ya know I was dere?"
"Electromagnetism again. You're not able to feel it, so you don't know what to fake."
"Ah well." Meowth flopped down next to him. "Kinda strange for us to be just talkin'."
"I suppose it is. But more power to us if we can keep doing it. I didn't like having you for an enemy."
"Just business, right?" Meowth said. "I mean, we didn't mean anytin by it by da end anyways.
"There's an old saying. I destroy my enemy when I make him my friend." Both of them looked around to see Riolu padding up to them. "Sorry if I'm interrupting, I just didn't want to be alone tonight. Not after that."
"It's never a problem, Riolu." Pikachu assured him. "And I like the saying. It seems practically designed for Ash – he's certainly turned a lot of enemies into friends."
Riolu shrugged, lying back and closing his eyes. "In a way, both of your old selves have been destroyed, in becoming friends. But how else can you have growth?"
Meowth nodded, then frowned. "Did ya say you'd seen da stars differently?"
"Yes. This little jaunt isn't the first time travel trip I've had with Ash, or even the biggest – just the longest duration one, as it's only one way. We went into the past to make sure history wasn't ended by Arceus."
"I'd have thought you'd be rather too busy to stargaze."
The mouse gave an embarrassed shrug, unseen by the other two. "We get thrown in prisons a lot, I took the opportunity. Really amazing. Did you know that the stars are all moving in different directions?"
"Can't say I did."
"It's very slow, but the constellations move and change." Pikachu pointed to one, three tiny sparks flickering above them as he made it clear which set of stars he meant. "The dragonair? Those five stars near the centre of the constellation used to be the 'wings' of a dragonite."
As the other two digested this, a light breeze developed. Pikachu glanced over at Riolu, who was shivering slightly. "You okay?"
Riolu shook his head. "Battle shock. I recognize it, it's just that I've never been in such a stressful situation before. Even with Hunter J, either I could see how well my rescuers were doing or I was able to help. But just staring into that cloud of dust, seeing the blasts and feeling the ground shake… Ash was pouring out his own life like water to fight, and I couldn't do a thing."
"I've felt helpless before. But I made a private promise to myself, a few years ago."
Meowth turned towards him. "What's dat?"
"If Ash dies, I'm breaking into the afterlife and bringing him out myself." Pikachu's cheeks sparked momentarily with emotion.
Riolu frowned dubiously. "How?"
"I start in Sinnoh, head to New moon island, and get what I want out of Darkrai one way or another."
"What about-"
The response was immediate. "Worry seed."
"I have to admit, that sounds like it might actually work." Riolu said. "If you ever have to, I'm coming with you."
"Amen to dat."
Pikachu sighed, and lay back. "That's too morbid. Let's talk about something else."
"Sure ting." Meowth thought for a moment. "What's happenin' next?"
"Let's see…hmm… first time we were at Ash's house… you haven't been selling fake Leaf Stones this time? Because there was that poor woman with the Gloom."
"Nope!" Meowth said. "We did sell a few real ones, so hopefully dat's not gonna be an issue."
"Good to know. Next after that is…" Pikachu tailed off for a second, then rolled onto his feet and looked at the other two, grinning. "Movie time!"
"So." Sir Aaron caressed the hilts of his Sacred Swords, and looked out over the grassy plain before them. Next to him was Dialga, with Ieyasu standing arms-crossed on his back.
"Who do we have to fight here?"
Ieyasu leapt down. "This is the territory of the one-eyed Dragon of Osshu."
The knight froze. "Did you say dragon? Because I have a terrible feeling about this."
Suddenly, a shout of "ARE YOU READY GUYS!" echoed across the plain, followed by a rumbling. Ieyasu clenched his fists, Dialga's gem pulsed as he gathered power, and Sir Aaron contemplated how good a stiff drink would be right about now.
And then, Palkia rode over the crest of a nearby hill on top of a visibly straining Rapidash… with exhaust pipes? Whatever… followed by a horde of mounted samurai.
The three allies charged, Sir Aaron launching his Swords in a series of dazzling, looping trajectories as he closed with the enemy general.
"Okay!" he shouted, appropriating a horse from one of the Osshu men with a swift punch and swinging into the saddle, "Since when could you talk?"
Palkia looked guilty. "I didn't say anything. It must have been your imagination."
"And one-eyed dragon? You've got both eyes! I know you've got an eyepatch on," as well as a really rather nice helmet, Sir Aaron admitted, "but there's nothing on this plane that could actually hurt you permanently, so why?"
"It goes with the image." Palkia extended two sets of three claws each. "LETS PARTY!"
AN: A bit of a breather after the first movie plot. They deserve it.
I think Pikachu's plan is pretty much what Ash's Pokémon would do, really.
The Rainbow wing's description is based off the real-world mechanism of iridescence. It's the same reason why butterfly scales or Peacock feathers shimmer different colours, and how that special car paint that changes colour works. CDs produce rainbow effects by a different but related phenomenon. It's one of those things where knowing how it works only makes it more beautiful.
The idea of the phoenix feather still burning after it has been shed is one I first encountered in Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett. It may not be the origin of the legend, but I can't track it back further. In the Discworld book, it's specifically stated they burn in the presence of evil - but I decided not to carry that part forward.
Oh, yeah, and Palkia is Date Masamune - who did not in reality speak Engrish. Or have a motor horse. The Sengoku Basara one does, though.